As the Holiday season approaches for Christmas, Hanukkah, & Kwanzaa, you are likely preparing to buy a loved one a present. With that in mind, I thought I’d present you with 5 of my most favorite books I’ve read this year for entrepreneurs and those aspiring to be one. I’ve placed these into 3 categories:
- Books that inspire you to take entrepreneurial action,
- Books that inspire you to take action and then explain how to begin creating a business, and
- Books that explain step-by-step in detail how to create and run a new business.
I hope the categories help you to decide which book is best for your family member or friend you’re buying a gift for. Whichever of these you decide to go with, though, will be just fine because I personally have read each and found them to be amazing. If you have questions about any of these, please contact me and I will personally answer your email—see my contact page.
Books that inspire you to take entrepreneurial action
1. The Power Of Starting Something Stupid, by Richie Norton
(click here to see reviews on Amazon.com)
This was one of my absolute favorite books this year. Richie tells a personally story that you will not soon forget. It’s a story he tells because he hopes it inspires you to realize we don’t always have as much time as we think we do, so we should pursue our dreams starting today.
Here’s why I love this book:
- Helps you determine if your “stupid idea” is actually a smart idea
- Learn to overcome the three biggest excuses for not starting your idea now: “I need more time/experience/money”
- Learn to break down your lofty big-picture idea into small projects that give your idea legs to begin walking
2. The Entrepreneur Mind, by Kevin D. Johnson
(click here to see reviews on Amazon.com)
Kevin’s book is excellent for the aspiring entrepreneur because he tells us exactly what his mindset was as a beginner and how it’s changed as he has become very successful creating a multi-million dollar media company. He is still young in his early 30’s and will resonate well with younger aspiring entrepreneurs. Fantastic lessons and insight found in this book.
Here’s why I enjoyed this one:
- You can start a business with some enhanced knowledge or improve your current startup with these practical tips
- The tips in the book were used by the author to build a multi-million dollar marketing company by his early 30′s
- Contains practical suggestions, not high-level theories
- If you’re a young entrepreneur, you’ll relate to these stories and be alerted to avoid the mistakes the author made
Books that inspire you to take action and then explain how to begin creating a business
3. The UnStoppables, by Bill Schley
(click here to see reviews on Amazon.com)
Have you ever wondered what a Navy SEAL thinks? Or, what an Israeli Special Forces soldier thinks? This book was extremely intriguing because for the first time you get to delve into the mind of a special operations soldier and see how you can adopt their thought processes and methods to become a successful entrepreneur. You cannot go wrong gifting this book to anyone, from aspiring entrepreneurs to wildly successful ones.
Here’s why I recommend this book:
- Provides the Accelerated Proficiency framework for learning anything in a short period of time (e.g. entrepreneurship)
- Gives you a business toolkit of basic priorities and principles that help you get a business started and moving forward
- Provides advice from Navy SEALs & Israeli Special Forces on how to navigate fear and channel it for your benefit
Books that explain step-by-step in detail how to create and run a new business
4. Running Lean, by Ash Maurya
(click here to see reviews on Amazon.com)
This is the only book on my list that was published before 2013 (March 6, 2012), however, I just read it this year and was blown away by how it simplified the start-up process so that anyone can easily become an entrepreneur. I actually used the framework of this book for a consulting project earlier in 2013 and had fantastic results. The project required me to create a business model for a newly proposed business. This book is especially great for anyone who likes the Lean Startup method.
Check out why you should consider this book:
- The best book for turning The Lean Startup theory into practical reality
- A step-by-step, simple, action-oriented blueprint for moving from an initial business idea to taking action
- Introduces you to the Lean Canvas, a 1-page business model template that replaces the traditional 80-page business plan
- Includes exit criteria for each stage of the process
- Proven interview scripts for testing your assumptions about the marketplace problems and solutions you’ve identified
5. Lean Analytics, by Alistair Croll and Ben Yoskovitz
(click here to see reviews on Amazon.com)
Being an analyst myself, this book was extraordinary. For the first time, a book credibly provides entrepreneurs with a method for applying analytics to their start-up. The authors are seasoned pros in the analytics field and have applied their knowledge of analytics to entrepreneurship in a way that is accessible to anyone. You can finally measure your progress, and in a way that maps well to the Lean Startup method (which I am a huge fan of if you didn’t know). This book is for all entrepreneurs, not just the analytically-inclined. It is absolutely one-of-a-kind and priceless.
Buy this book for these reasons:
- Learn what metrics a startup should be using
- Learn how focusing on the One Metric That Matters (OMTM) will transform your business
- You no longer have to worry about which aspect of your business to work on next because it maps out the entire start-up process for you
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